


Running around the Life of Jed Brooks

by dhur



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Jerk With A Heart of Gold, quiet revolution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-09 16:48:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 17
Words: 13,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15271908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dhur/pseuds/dhur
Summary: Jed Brooks must make his way through the trenches of his sophmore year as he works to protect and guard his friend Reggie Lockheart as he is slowly dying from Pancreatic cancer.





	1. Chapter 1

(Story of Raphael Noridston; Warriorstruck)  
Every hero must rise in the center of oblivion. Every hero must come to terms with the dark past that they have undergone throughout their lives.  
Molphius raised his head, his entire being dripping with mud. He opened his mouth to reveal the gaping hole.  
“So I see that you have awakened.” He looked around to see a figure cloaked in white light. Slowly he lifted one foot forward. The ground quaked as he placed his foot on the ground.  
“You are within the cave of sorrows,” the figure said. His voice was deep and echoed throughout the cavern. He extended a golden hand. “You have the option to come with me.”  
Molphius looked around. Nothing but darkness surrounded him, and here was the guiding light that could possibly bring him to a life that would perhaps be greater than what would have been…  
For a second, Molphius was able to foresee the possible future events that would happen if he chose a side. His eyes gazed at the hand extended to him.  
“I think I can take care of myself,” he said.  
***  
(Reality; Dominion Center School)  
Jed Brooks was only able to read through the first opening lines of Warriorstruck before he heard the bell ring for him to go to class. A major temptation came over him since he desired to read through the rest of the story to see what Molphius’ outbreak was.  
Alas, the treacherous truth of reality.

Jed walked alone to the lockers. He switched in his locker cod and carried his books out. He could already tell that it was going to be a long day.  
“Hey! Look who it is that is walking in late to class!” he could hear the class bully Markus Bartholomew yell at him inside of the history classroom.  
“Mr. Bartholomew! It is none of your business if somebody walks in late!” the teacher Mrs. Marks said. However, Jed continued to avoid her gaze. He took his seat right next to Reggie Lockheart, who was busy scribbling on a piece of paper. Of course, in Mrs. Marks’ class it seemed as if he was taking notes.  
“In 1800s, the Spaniards set up their colonies in the West Indies…” Mrs. Marks said. Jed took out a piece of paper and kept his eyes glued on the center of his desk, afraid what would happen if he lifted them. How blind Mrs. Marks was, never seeming to show too much concern for what was going on. Jed was so focused on his desk that he did not notice that he had caught the gaze of the assistant teacher Rachel Brooks.


	2. Looking for a sign

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jed tries to figure out what kind of creation he wants to dedicate to Reggie. In the meantime, Rachel Nieve struggles in her daily life when it is revealed she is an actress struggling to make a living.

Reggie said nothing to Jed as he went on his way to his locker.  
“I hope everything goes smoothly for you in regards to your pancreas,” Jed said. He figured that such was truly the right thing to say; Reggie, however, responded with nothing as he emptied out his book bag. There were times when Jed wondered what he was thinking.  
Suddenly Markus barged in and threw a piece of paper in their direction.  
“What you have been doing throughout the entirety of class,” he said before turning away without making a single glance back. Jed picked up the piece of paper and placed it inside his pocket. He hoped that Reggie hadn’t seen it; he had already had enough on his mind to worry about.  
**  
Deep inside of the depths of his room, Jed looked out across the floor at all of the pieces that were scattered around him for the Lego Death Star. It was hard being somebody with asperger’s syndrome. He took out the piece of paper that was scribbled all over and placed his flashlight over it before turning out all the lights. He found a lot of comfort in darkness. It was the perfect place for someone that regarded himself as less.  
Sometimes his thoughts would drift to how Reggie was doing. He hated when he did this because he knew that this was not a very healthy thing to do. Being nothing but stuck in the middle of what you are doing. Being stuck with just a single friend. A single person.  
He looked through the instructions. Then he threw them across the room; he was going to work on his own creation, specifically for Reggie, and this time he was going to do it before he died.  
Just, what to create…  
***  
“I’m sorry, Ms. Nieve, but maybe you ought to try something different besides singing,” said the auditionee over the phone. Rachel was sitting inside of her trailer. She lowered the volume of her television so that she could hear the call clearer. She wanted to let out a scream and say that she could do better—if they only gave her one more chance. However, she breathed in a deep breath.  
“Okay,” she said. Rachel Nieve set her phone down and sat down in the middle of her bed. How discouraging it was that she would receive comments like this. She grabbed a beer and started taking sips from it. Normally her mother would shout from the kitchen “Are you up drinking again?!” But Rachel lived alone; she had moved out of the house ever since she was 17. “I think I’ve grown up quite a bit faster than most kids my age,” she said. She had successfully been able to cast into the show King Arthur. After its seven-week run had ended, now she was left wondering what she could do.  
She opened the fridge. Pepperoni pizza. Well, it’s something, she thought as she lifted one of the cold slices and placed it inside of the microwave.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jed saves a girl from the bully Marcus. A new friendship starts to weave that he hadn't expected before.

“So I have three trading cards that I collected from the mail the other day: Captain Copernicus, Aerohead Man, and Zip-Xavier,” Jed’s friend said. It was a brisk fall morning in Dominion Center School. Jed and Reggie sat around with other boys sharing their cards they collected about super heroes.  
“Wow! That’s pretty cool that you can collect the rarer cards,” one of his friends said. Reggie, on the other hand, said nothing. There were times when Jed wondered what was going inside of the head of his friend; of course, he figured that it was probably the cancer gradually eating away the pancreas was also eating away his brain. Still he couldn’t quite tell for sure.  
“Hey! What’s going on all the way over there?” said one of his friends. Jed turned to see Marcus glowering over a young Hispanic girl.  
“Can you not hear me! DO I NEED TO SPEAK UP!!!”  
“Jed, what are you doing?” asked one of my friends, but Jed stood up firm and tall. This was quite unusual for Jed because it just wasn’t like him to stand up like this. Maybe because he knew that Reggie was the next victim. Maybe he just was tired of the picking on in general. Maybe because it was just plain nasty to see him picking on a gal.  
“Well, look who decided to step out of his comfort zone,” said Marcus as the Hispanic girl fled. Suddenly Jed was lost for words. He struggled to articulate any sentences from his mouth.   
“I-I…”  
“Yeah, I knew that you couldn’t say a whole lot from that mouth of yours!”  
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!!!! As soon as the bell sounded, Marcus abandoned Jed. Jed let out a deep sigh as he watched Marcus walk through those doors and leave his friend Reggie alone. Still he could not help but wonder why it was that he just left like that; did Marcus see that there was absolutely no point in “finishing the job”? Was he afraid of failure? Was that why he left so suddenly?  
Whatever the reason, Jed barged through those doors before he was late for his first class.  
***  
Jed hung his head as he listened to the lecture of Mrs. Harris.  
“Now, there are numerous ways that we can factor out polynomials…” Jed’s eyes began to close. A stream of panic began entering inside of him as if his brain was about to enter into a burst of overload. His head fell on top of the desk. Algebra I. It was just too much.  
He felt a tap on my shoulder.  
“I think this is for you,” Reggie said to him before he went back to scribbling on the piece of paper. Jed grabbed the note and read:  
Thank you for saving me at the front of the school. This is the only way that I can express my gratitude since I have Meningitis.  
He was utterly speechless. Breathing deeply he slipped the note inside of his pocket. Most find it formal in this culture to write back; however, he wasn’t really sure what to say. Perhaps he wasn’t really used to being noticed by others except for Reggie. Perhaps it was rather strange that one would consider him to be a hero. He continued to keep his head towards the desk.  
***  
(Story by Raphael Noridston; Warriorstruck)  
Molphius walked towards the end of the cave. A bright light started shining all the way at the entrance. This must be a sign of hope; of life, he thought. He stepped forward and raised his head up to the clear sky. A car blazed past him, nearly running him over.   
He made his way to a dark alley way. What he saw truly frightened him.  
“Come on! Get up!” screamed a bearded man with a hat. He saw an African American struggling against the bonds of the rope. What could he possibly want with a boy?  
The very scene caused Molphius to fire a stream of mud in the direction of the man. As the man went toppling to his very doom, the boy took one look into Molphius’ eyes. It looked like a connection was about to happen—that the relationship between monster and man could quite possibly occur.  
Instead the boy sprinted into the wilderness, glad to have finally been able to escape the beast.  
(Reality; Dominion Center School)  
Jed watched as the Hispanic girl started walking out of the classroom. It felt strange how she never really revealed her name. He turned away.   
It happened really subtly at first, but it wasn’t long before Jed saw his friend convulsing on the ground.   
“Come on, Reggie,” Jed said as he tried to pick up his friend. While these convulsions were rather sporadic and happened rarely, still they were something that put his friend at risk.  
Shouting began to erupt as several boys and girls started to get in his way. One of them tried calling 9-1-1.   
The rest of what happened felt like a sequence that Jed had seen so many times that it literally felt like a wind-up tape. Reggie was carried to the hospital through the ambulance.  
But it was here that he often felt the most alone…  
Jed sighed as he prepared to enjoy another lunch all by himself.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rachel and Jed struggle to find their places inside of the school. Even though neither of them ever meet, they are two sides of the same coin. Both of them are aliens inside of their home.

(Rachel Nieve’s perspective)  
“You know there are just days when I just wish that Marcus would just shut up in his speech; it is not his job to note who it is that is coming in late to my history class,” Mrs. Marks said during the lunch period. All of the teachers, including Rachel, sat inside of a room during the lunch periods. The entire place felt like confinement to her.  
She felt like slamming her tray up against the table. She had had it with the teachers. If they want to complain, why don't they keep their comments to themselves, she thoughts as she picked up her lunch and started making her way out of the room. None of the teachers noticed.  
Rachel noticed the same boy she saw in Mrs. Mark’s class setting himself just outside of the cafeteria. His back was turned to the door. His pencil worked very vigorously as he colored the page that was just in front of him. There was a temptation for her to look over his shoulder and see what it was that he was trying to create.  
She wasn’t sure if he knew that she was watching him. She desired to talk to him. Perhaps there would be some kind of connection that they could form with one another. Perhaps they could relate to one another in some way or the other, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not find the words to say what she wanted.   
Then the students started to storm out. The doors barged open. So many people were talking that it was almost impossible to make out what any of them were saying. The boy seemed to have guessed what was going on, for he immediately bounded out of the way before he could get crushed.  
***  
(Jed’s perspective)  
Jed gave a deep sigh as he reflected on Reggie’s seizure. It continued to play inside his mind. He was inside his room. Several pieces were scattered right in front of him. He looked at each piece and fingered them.   
Taking a gray block to act as the base, he surrounded it with three red blocks. This reminded him of a heart. In the center he placed a circular yellow piece.  
When he looked at the heart, it reminded him of how weak Reggie was. How the cancer was taking its toll—and there wasn’t much time left.  
***  
“So how are you?” Jed asked. Reggie nodded as if to indicate that he was feeling a lot better. However, his skin was looking a whole lot paler and yellow.   
You know I miss the times when you used to talk, Jed wanted to say; however, he knew better than to force his friend to speak.  
The two of them sat away from the crowd. While they were sitting at the edge of the staircase leading to the entrance of the school, Jed noticed the Hispanic girl again sitting on the opposite end of the school.  
Jed noticed her take out a pencil and paper and begin to write. Walking up to him, she handed him the piece of paper.  
What is your name?  
Jed scribbled something on the note.  
Jed.  
Smiling, she wrote back.  
Miranda Kuzkafa. I am deaf. I am still in the process of learning how to use sign language.  
Jed nodded. He looked over at Reggie, who seemed to be curiously looking over at the conversation.  
Your friend, Miranda wrote. Jed nodded. Reggie nodded as well.  
The school bell rang. Miranda scribbled on another piece of paper and handed it to him.  
I would like to speak to you some more.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jed and Reggie spend a day outside, enjoying the freedom they are not able to experience at school.

The rest of the school day passed on like it was a flying mist disappearing into the shadows.   
“Would you like to go outside at my place?” Jed asked.  
“Sure,” Reggie said. Jed knew that the doctor told him that he should take it easy. I probably shouldn’t have asked, he thought.  
***  
Outside, Reggie and Jed both pulled out their bikes and pedaled along the path.   
The trees soared through the air. The entire pathway they were going through moved seamlessly like a picture that was speeding past.  
CLINK!  
Jed was almost sent flying off his bike.   
“OOF!” he grunted before he came to an abrupt halt flat on his face. Reggie slowed his own bike.  
“Are you ok?” he asked. Jed got on his butt and nodded.  
“Augh, yeah, I think I’m alright,” he said. Approaching his bike, he moved the front tire with his hand; it jiggled a little.  
“It seems to be jammed.”  
“Wow, I know that feeling,” Reggie replied as he hopped off his bike. Jed gave him a look.  
“No you don’t!” he shot. Reggie chuckled before he went to the back of the bicycle. Jed lifted the front and the two started rolling the bike through the woods. Much difficulty concurred trying to carry two bikes at once.   
“Man, this is harder than trying to back out my dad’s car out of the drive way,” Jed said.   
The two friends saw a man approaching.   
“Excuse me! Sir! Do you have any idea how to fix a jammed tire?” Jed asked. The man looked at the tire.   
“Sorry I’m no bike mechanic,” the man said. “But I would try loosening the big screw on the side and maybe see if that frees the wheel a bit. See here, this one,” he said, tapping the large screw on the side of the bike. He then moved on.  
“You know that guy could have jumped us?” Reggie asked. “If he wanted to, he could’ve jumped us if he wanted to.”  
And the two friends walked through the wilderness of the world, happy to finally put the dark days behind them.  
***  
Rain started to slowly patter down from the sky above. The two of them knew that it was only a matter of time before they needed to get back home.  
“Maybe my mom is driving you back?” Jed asked.  
“Wait, let me see if I can actually ride this bike,” Reggie said. He mounted the bike, barely managing to keep his own balance. To avoid falling over, he kept his legs grounded.  
“I feel like that guy didn’t even try,” Reggie replied. It was good to see that Reggie was actually talking again. As the sun shined down upon us, we felt like we were about to fall to the ground in sleep and slumber.   
“Maybe we should just settle down in the middle of the road right over here,” Jed said. Reggie nodded off a little. He too was becoming very restless and exhausted in his current state. Their eye brows were beginning to become very heavy. It was like weights had fallen on top of their eyes.  
Soon the two friends on 5:00 PM were asleep on the bed of grass as if they were bed fellows.  
***  
The next morning, Jed found himself inside of his bedroom. An aroma started to come into his nostrils. He found his mother inside of the kitchen area making pancakes.  
“The police found you two curled up together on the bed of grass. I brought Reggie back to his home,” his mom said. Jed set himself down and ate his pancakes, his brain stuck in the memories of yesterday as if he was addicted to that time; a time where he and Reggie were taken to the good old days, where they didn’t have to worry about people.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jed struggles to cope with Reggie's worsening condition and his mom misunderstanding his asperger's syndrome

Jed always enjoyed it better when he rode the bus to school. He didn’t necessarily like it, but it was a lot better than riding the car with his mom. His mom didn’t understand him the same way that Reggie did.  
“You know that I really do try my best,” his mom said, but Jed wouldn’t have any of it. He often didn’t say anything when his mom talked like this. His mother desired to have a relationship that didn’t really exist. Maybe if she spent more time with him by going for walks with Jed or arriving at the bus when Jed arrived home, they would be closer.  
“But honey, how come you never say anything?” she would ask. “I wish you would look me in the eye or would talk about other things besides what you did with Reggie the other day. I mean, aren’t you the least bit concerned with how narrow your variety of friends tend to be?”   
“I have asperger’s syndrome,” Jed would reply. Then the conversation would end there.  
“You don’t have to be that way; if you wanted to, you could overcome,” his mother would say, and this really irked Jed. How about instead of whining about some of my tendencies, why don’t you do your own research? But he figured it was pointless to argue with someone that could not be reasoned with.  
Inside the school bus, Reggie became closed up and secluded—like everyone around him was an enemy that he dreaded. It was during these times that Jed noticed how pale his skin looked. It was during these times that he saw how thin he looked—almost like he hadn’t eaten in months.  
“Hope all of you have a great day!” the bus driver called as the students descended out of the vehicle. Reggie followed Jed out to the side as the students from his bus burst out the doors—to Jed it was like he was carrying his best friend.  
He was the only person that he could make eye-contact with, and it pained him to see the yellow eyes of his friend. The cancer was spreading.  
Mr. Lockhart? Mr. Lockhart?!” At first Jed thought that Mrs. Mark’s voice was filled with anger and resentment.  
“Mr. Lockhart, are you feeling ok?”  
“I don’t think that I’m…feeling well.”  
“Mr. Lockhart, if you really are not feeling well, you do not have to come to class.” Jed thought that his friend was definitely going to go to the principal’s office; why couldn’t she see that his friend was under a lot of pressure right now.  
But something else was going on inside of her; perhaps sympathy? Jed shook his head; ashamed of the frustration that he had with reading facial expressions.  
“Do you have the assignment?” Mrs. Marks said as Reggie began to walk out.  
“Assignment?”  
“Yes, the assignment,” Mrs. Marks said, putting her hands on top of her head. “Mr. Brooks, I really want to pass you and all, but if you do not do them…” she stopped in her speech, which left Jed wondering what she planned to finish the sentence with. A combination of worry and mystery came upon him.  
***  
(Rachel Nieve’s perspective)  
Rachel took a bite of her yogurt as she watched Jed. He was supposed to be working on the paper that he had missed the other day; however, he had his head face down against the desk. She wondered if he had actually just fallen asleep.  
Rachel often noticed certain peculiarities with Jed especially after his friend Reggie had left. While the boy often appeared to be very discontent, she saw that Jed became extra restless whenever Reggie was not present—like something did not quite feel right with his friend missing. She wondered what could possibly going through the head of the boy right now; something about him seemed to be brilliant.  
“Hello,” Rachel called. Jed said nothing. Rachel tried again.  
“Hello, if you don’t know who I am, my name is Ms. Nieve, the assistant teacher here.” Still Jed did not seem to respond. Maybe he thinks I am talking to somebody else, she thought. She considered the possibility of walking up to him and talking to him directly; however, she decided against that because Jed looked like he was just so hard at work on his paper.  
Or at least, that’s what it seemed…  
***   
Jed walked home in the middle of the brisk breeze. The trees were entirely bare, leaving the colorful fall leaves lying on top of the lawn.  
“Stop,” his mother said; since Jed had his head down the entire time, he did not even notice that his mother was standing at the front door the entire time.  
“I just wanted to say it is good to see you, son,” she said, kneeling down to give him a hug. Jed hated it when his mother did that. He avoided eye contact with her.  
“Did you make any friends?” she asked in that friendly voice that Jed could only interpret as something of a pampering voice. He didn’t need her head to tilt and her eyes to flicker like that. Maybe if she asked that in a normal kind of way, it wouldn’t be so hard for him to answer her.  
“No,” he answered.  
“No? Honey, it’s just…” Although Jed was tempted to run upstairs and lie with the pillow over his head like he usually did, something inside of him told him that he needed to stand his ground.  
“Mom, if you really cared, you would try to understand me.” The words came out like daggers making slits against the skin.  
“I do research, Jed, and I know that deep inside you can change—“  
“MOM! NO! JUST NO!”  
“You need to get out of your comfort zone—“  
“MOM! JUST SHUT UP! SHUT UP!” At least that is what he wished that he could do; instead all he did was look at his mother’s face and squint his eyes down really hard. His eye lids shut down as if he refused to see her.  
And his mom would walk away. He wasn’t sure if he really communicated the message or not. Often it was very hard to tell.  
***  
Jed stared at the screen as his computer flared with animation.  
“This is the Just-Us League, you know,” Batman said to Super Woman and Batgirl as he picked up Wonder woman in “How Wonder Woman Should Have Ended.” Youtube was a true haven. Then he clicked the exit button, and he was in the reality all over again.  
Lying on his side, he toyed with the lego that he had; it was the position that he liked finding himself in. He was tempted to break apart the heart that he had made—that it was absolutely pointless to make anything for Reggie since he was about to die in a couple months anyway. All he could feel was the anguish that he felt for his mother. How would you make something that described being misunderstood?  
He arched his arm over to the pile and found two pieces that looked like stairs. His eyes blinked as he looked at his new creation. A heart with a staircase running through it. It almost looked like the stairs were arms reaching out to the open air. He sat up. His hands picked up more pieces from the lego set. There was a cylinder red piece which he attached to the center of the heart. For some reason, the cylinder made him think of a pipe, making him think of an oxygen tube.  
This made him think of how much time Reggie had…


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reggie and Jed play make-believe pirates to make the hard days pass by.

Jed laid his head on the table and prepared to go to sleep.  
Wake up. You are better than this. Wanting to make the voice go away, Jed placed a pillow over my head. Nobody was ever there to see the strange actions that he had been doing for some time. Whenever he pulled the pillow hard across my head, it was like he was hiding from something. It was like he did not want anyone to see me.  
You are better than this. He pulled the pillow harder against my head. Maybe to some he would look lazy, but for him he had no fear of the perception that this caused for me, for nobody was in my room whenever this happened. The softness of the pillow gave him a sense of security—a feeling of comfort. The cushion made him feel a certain sense of rest. He didn’t feel like he was responsible.  
If only he could do this for the rest of his life…  
***  
The sun’s rays shined down upon Reggie and Jed as they walked outside with nothing to do.  
“I’m bored,” Reggie said. It was a rather phenomenal thing when a fifteen year old teenager complained of boredom. Jed looked up into the sky and saw a pane pass by.  
“Look a pirate ship!” he exclaimed. Reggie looked up as if he was a little bit confused.  
“Oh, I see it! I see it!” he said, jumping around with joy.  
“It’s coming closer and closer!” Jed said as he ran out of the path and into the forest where the willow tree stood. Suddenly the ground beneath him started to turn into planks of wood. The trees started to become masts. The branches possessing leaves became sails flying in the wind.  
“Captain Reggie!” his friend said. He noticed there was an eyepatch covering his left eye. His voice also became much deeper as if he was going into the lower registers.  
“Captain Jed!” Jed replied. Jed looked up to see a woodpecker slamming his beak against the bark of a tree.  
“It appears that we have an attacker! ARRRGGGHHH!!!” Jed exclaimed as he and Reggie raced forward. The woodpecker cocked his head towards his attackers. His belly started to burst. He head expanded.  
“What in Saint Peter’s name is going on?” cried Reggie. The bird let out a growl as he flew up high into the air. He swooped down with one of his talons.  
“Avast, me hardy’s!” cried Jed as he picked up a sword form his hilt and began swiping away at the legs of the woodpecker.  
“Oh noes!” cried Reggie as the woodpecker went to the front of the ship.  
“Somebody needs to climb down there and stop the infernal beast!” Jed said. He knew that the woodpecker was down there. Grabbing hold of a rope, he swung down and saw the marks of the beak peck madly at the ship.  
“Oh noes! If the woodpecker breaks open the ship’s hull, then we’re screwed to bloody hell! What in the devil’s name are we going to do?”  
Reggie pulled out what looked like a bolt. “This looks like a job for the 3 ¾ Centicubit Hexagonal Washer!” Grappling onto another rope, Reggie made his way down to the hole and placed the washer inside of the hull of the ship. The hull that was once flooding with water began to close.  
“Nice one, Reggie! I guess that washer not only fixes Dimensionators and pipes, but also the hulls of ships!” Jed said, and the two friends watched the sun set while the ship sailed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The hexagonal washer is a reference from Ratchet and Clank


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jed gets to know Miranda more as Reggie struggles to get through with the kemos. Miranda tries to teach Jed sign language, which he finds to be a more suitable form of communication

Jed sat outside in the hallways, scribbling on a piece of paper. The boy looked like he was in deep thought; however, the reality was that he felt stuck.  
He felt stuck by the fact that he didn’t have a clear direction on where Reggie’s project was going. He felt stuck by the fact that he wasn’t able to spend time with his friend at school because he was in the hospital with a worsening pancreatic cancer, and who knew when he was going to come back…  
He scribbled hard on the paper. The pencil pierced through the sheet. Jed hoped that nobody would see him, or for that matter approach him. It would just be him inside of his own little world.  
A paper airplane sailed inside his lap.  
Hi  
Jed looked up to see Miranda watching him.  
Hi, Jed scribbled back. This felt like something that was natural to him; he liked this form of communication because it did not require anything verbal. He didn’t have to worry about facial expressions or how he appeared or sounded.  
I am trying to learn how to use sign language, Miranda said. She displayed in front of him a book used for sign language. Jed stared at the book like he was trying to interpret code on the computer.  
Would you like me to teach you how to use sign language? She wrote back to me. He nodded; however, in the back of his head he wondered why it was really important for him to learn about something such as that.  
She paused for a moment like she was trying to come up with the best way in order to explain something. Maybe I should start with the alphabet, she wondered, but instead her index fingers formed a C-shaped hook and locked together. Jed observed her fingers and mimicked the same. She picked up the book and flipped to the page that detailed on this symbol. Jed saw that the headline for the lesson read friend.  
I figured I would start off with that one, she wrote. I hope maybe I can someday move past this—just writing on pieces of paper. I hear that it takes years to learn sign language, she wrote. This just looks really cheesy and juvenile. On the other hand, you seem like a quiet enough lad to talk in this way.  
But Jed rather enjoyed this form of communication. It was something that he could grow accustomed to, a quieter form of talking that did not overload his mind.  
***  
People began sprinting towards the front of the wall in the middle of the hallway.  
“Wow!”  
“Cool!”  
“I am totally going to sign up!”  
Jed tried to distance himself as much as possible from the rest of the crowd. It was what he hated about the feeling of there being multiple crowds. Miranda followed. Even though she could not hear anything that was going on, she too also felt rather overwhelmed by what was going on. In her perspective, the hordes of students was like numerous flies swarming around a kill; they could not be heard, but they still left a very disgusting odor.  
It’s kind of stressful even when you cannot hear, Miranda wrote down on the slip of paper they shared. Jed nodded.  
Well, I’m off to see my counsellor, she wrote down. Maybe someday we can meet up again. Jed nodded with a blank expression on his face.  
***  
Interestingly enough with Reggie gone the school day seemed to go by a lot faster. Maybe it was because there was nobody to bother him. Maybe it was because he found it incredibly easy to stay out of the public’s eye.  
When he walked home alone during that day, he kept his head down. As he paced across the road, he tried to think about Miranda sitting with him in the hall; those were going to be good memories, he thought.  
He opened the door to find that his mother was on the phone. He raced up the stairs, for he knew what that meant.  
He left the door just a creak open as he went over to his bed and lay on his side. He always felt that he was responsible for his friend Reggie; however, he couldn’t suffice that he had to protect him from something unstoppable.  
Putting in his earbuds, he started turning on movie soundtrack—music that he was familiar with. He scrolled through the list and stopped on the track that read “Sound of the Shire” from LOTR. Outside in the hallway Jed could hear his mother talking.   
“So he wasn’t able to make it to school today…Uh-huh…Uh-huh…Well, I hope the kemos go ok.” As Jed’s mother’s voice seemed to rise in amplitude, he closed the door behind him. A wave of guilt washed over him, for he entered into the world of the shire alone.  
As he grasped hold of his heart with staircases running down it, he fingered it like it was an object of meditation.   
He found the curved pieces that made up the outer shell of the death star. Gradually he began to attach them onto the ends of the stairs. As he was doing this, he started thinking about how Miranda had introduced him to another way of communication—a way of communication that was still unknown to him but at the same time still made sense.  
He attached the curved piece of the Death Star onto the end of the stairs. The piece looked like it shouldn’t fit there,yet for some reason it looked like it belonged with the heart he was making.   
Jed looked at his creation. A heart with a gray center that had stairs running in different directions that reached a death star plate. This is starting to turn out to be an unusual creation, he thought.  
***  
Jed and Miranda sat outside in a corner before school began. Jed watched the words as Miranda tried signing some of the words in sign.  
Meaning. Miranda held out her palm and closed her middle and index finger. Her motion was similar to that of a key opening a locked door. Jed followed the same.  
Don’t-understand. She put her index and middle finger to her ear and lowered it to her mouth as her fingers rubbed against her cheek. Jed did the same motion. It took him awhile to understand the full meaning of what she was saying.  
Deaf you? She stated when she placed her hand from her ear to her mouth and pointed at Jed. Jed paused for a moment, circulating what she was trying to ask. Finally realizing it, he shook his head.  
He looked at the textbook and wondered if he could just come up with a reply off the top of his head. The words and signs seemed to spring at him out of the page like a horde of wilder beasts. He took out a stick from the ground and started writing his reply  
No, way of communication I understand. She nodded as if now she finally understood his intention.  
Jed thought he was hearing some noise behind his shoulder. He looked behind to see Marcus Bartholomew with a group of other boys. It appeared as if they were shouting against one another; however, from what he could tell, Marcus was much smaller than some of the other boys he was surrounded with.  
Miranda tapped Jed on the shoulder, and he looked to see that she had written another message.  
He will someday sink inside of the deep water he has made. She wrote, pointing to Marcus. Jed nodded.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Upon learning about the new talent show, Rachel decides to audition. As she tries to figure out what act to prepare, a little bit of her past is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not sure if any of you notice, but the story switches between Jed and Rachel

(Rachel’s perspective)  
Rachel was walking across the hall to see the other students surrounding a corner of the wall.  
“Wow! Cool!” What was all this fuss about? Knowing that she shouldn’t move herself in closer to the congregation, she stayed out in the back. She looked behind her to see Jed and Miranda sitting alone on the other side of the hall. She sighed; she made a quick comparison between the crowd and the two students. There was something that looked a little bit more genuine with Jed and Miranda.  
“I am going to sign up for the variety show!”  
“Yeah, me too!”  
“But we have to figure out how we are going to put together an act.”  
Rachel Nieve moved in closer to see the poster once all the students had moved away.  
Variety show coming to a school near you! Faculty and students alike—be sure to audition!  
Faculty was allowed to audition? She remembered when she was younger, faculty and teachers were not allowed. Now, here she was, another opportunity waiting inside her hands.  
She returned to her trailer and picked up another pepperoni pizza. She considered about what kind of act she would like to put on stage. Should she really audition? She was at the brink of giving up on her acting career; this next move probably wouldn’t do much. Yeah, it might be something to do, but it probably would not propel her career from what it already was.  
How can I incorporate acting? She wondered.  
***  
It appears that the two teens have left the house without any trace or sign of where they have gone, the CNN reporter said in the microphone. Rachel watched the two teens flee from their home. She looked at the distressed looks of the parents, and it reminded her of memories—the time when she thought about running away.  
She picked up a CD from the compartment she had. All of them were old recordings of old concerts that she had attended when she was a child. She still remembered the old times of rebellion that she had; as soon as she came back from school, she would turn on the sex pistols while lying on her bed.  
And her parents never knew what she did inside of the privacy of her own room. They never speculated anything. They were blind in the midst of arguing and fighting over how one of them   
“We just need to set up a proper curfew for her. Then maybe she will start coming back home on time!” her father angrily shouted. She still remembered the times when she would go out into the night with her friend.  
“I promise I am doing nothing bad out there!” she said, but her mother shook her head.  
“Stop trying to create so much drama in your life!”   
Rachel shook her head. She had never been addicted to drugs in her life. She had never gone out with anyone. It was that weird feeling she always had that she needed to be out in the darkness when her parents were arguing with each other. She needed to be outside with another girl—somebody that could actually understand her and what she was going through.  
She shut down the TV, slightly alarmed with the overflow of memories that had just entered her head. She shook her finger in the air as if she was conjuring up an idea. It was as if she was unable to verbalize what she had done—couldn’t quite express. Maybe that was why she was an actress—she was trying to eliminate the memories.  
“I think I know what it is that I want to do for my act the next day,” she said to herself.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jed and Miranda continue to connect with one another through sign language. Together they learn about one another.

(Jed’s perspective)  
Jed looked at the sign language book in front of him. He was sitting outside of the school building with Miranda with the ASL book right in front of him. He held out his right hand and made his thumb go up. He then held up his left hand and curved his index finger and thumb together.  
First. Miranda watched with much intent. Even though she was the one that was more experienced in this art than he was, she herself was still learning the art just like he was.  
Jed looked at the book. He took both his arms and pointed with his fingers, but instead of following the book’s demonstration by pointing at himself, he pointed at Miranda.  
Come. Miranda pointed at herself and Jed nodded. Miranda prepared to take out a pencil and paper; however, after some time of thinking about this, she set the items down. Pointing her right index finger into the air, she connected it to her left index finger and reeled it away. Rolling her left hand into a fist, she thumped it against her chest. She did this several times while Jed tried to look through the glossary of the book.  
“From…” he looked through the glossary trying to understand what she was saying. Finally she had to point it out to him.  
“Canada,” he said, and she nodded. She then swung both of her arms like she was marching.  
Military. Miranda gave an exasperated sigh and took out paper and began writing.  
I am from a military family. She paused before she continued writing again.  
I have meningitis and my parents just sort of had to go with the flow of my dad. It sometimes gets extra difficult with me.   
Jed took the pencil and wrote back: I have asperger’s syndrome. She nodded. In her eyes, he saw that she understood—like he didn’t need to explain himself anymore.  
Some people think that I am nothing more than a machine, but I don’t think so.  
She crumpled both of her hands into a ball. Sticking out her pinky and thumb, she swung it back and forth.  
Alike. She pointed out in the text book.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jed learns that Reggie has died and struggles to comprehend the changes that are about to happen in his life.

(Story of Raphael Nordston; Warriorstruck)  
Molphius stared across the horizon of the city that he had just consumed. He had just set the entire city in a state of ashes. He smiled at his progress; so this was what it was like to destroy the entirety of a nation.  
Still he grumbled underneath his throat. Something didn’t quite feel right, and the more that he tried to remove the swollen thought embedded inside him, the more that it felt that he could not remove it.   
“I proved the cloaked figure of light wrong,” Molphius said under his breath. “ I never needed his help. As far as I was concerned I was never in need of his weak strategies. I have found my own way of living, one that does not concern any fault of mine.”   
Molphius rose to his full height. The mud surrounding him began to harden. His form started to grow in height. He released a roar that almost caused him to feel like he was releasing something out of his inner figure.  
Indescribable emptiness gnawed inside him, and if it was emptiness that was destroying you, how could you really free yourself?  
The lego pieces fingered inside of Jed’s hands. It was like a puzzle that did not have any solution to it. His hands connected a line of short red blocks together with lengthened green pieces. He had no idea what they were supposed to be in the original model. He looked at his creation. A sense of pride flowed over him; the project looked like it was actually starting to become something.  
“Hello, dear,” his mother said. She creaked open the door. “I was just wondering if you wanted to go to school today.”   
Jed turned to his mother. “I guess I should,” he said in a nonchalant manner; his mother walked off while Jed packed his book bag and headed down the stairs.  
“Are you sure because if you really don’t want to you don’t have to,” his mother said. Jed was a bit confused. Usually his mother would become so infused with getting him ready to go to the bus stop; today, however, she was rather soft about it—even to the point of giving him the option not to go. Was she actually trying to rekindle his relationship with him?  
He walked out the door, disturbed by the sudden change in the routine that he knew so well.  
***  
As he waited by the bus stop, he looked at his phone until the yellow vehicle finally arrived.   
He sat in the back alone like he usually did, staring out the window. Even though some of the other kids were rowdy and gossiped about different topics at school in the back of the bus, Jed never minded; it was the place where he was used to staying; this is what he was used to. He didn’t give too much of a thought to why Reggie wasn’t currently with him. He sighed when he thought of how worse the cancer was getting. Even when his friend was not here, he still could not help but obsessively worry about him. Sometimes it felt as if he could barely function.  
The bus stopped.   
“Thank you all!” the bus driver exclaimed as all the students exited out of the bus. Jed gravitated towards Miranda. She put out both of her hands in front of her and wiggled them. She pointed her left index finger to her right forearm.  
Waited long. Jed liked it when Miranda signed to him instead of writing. It was a unique way of communication that was non-linear—something that showed him the true value of the way his brain worked.  
He could have explained how his mother had held him back, preventing him from coming out on time, but he didn’t have the knowledge to communicate that.  
He rolled his hand into a fist and circled it into a chest while doing so.  
Sorry.  
***  
Mrs. Marks came to the front of the classroom. She exchanged a quick glance at Jed. While it was the case that Jed usually tried his best to avoid eye-contact with his history teacher, he realized Mrs. Marks seemed to be in a rush. She is probably just exasperated about being late, he thought.  
“I have some very sad news everyone,” she said, pausing in between her breaths.  
“Reggie Lockhart,” she began. She took some more breaths as if she was trying to stomach what she was about to say. “The Lockhart’s have shared that Reggie has passed away; he will no longer be with us. I know that there are a few of you who are very close to Reggie,” she said, looking at Jed, who was trembling at his desk.   
“Therefore, because of this, I would like to start the day with a moment of silence for Reggie Lockhart.” The entire classroom went silent.  
It was not long before history class ended. Mrs. Marks had replaced the entire class time with silence. Some people closed their eyes and started murmuring. Others would have their eyes glued to the desk like they were bored, but in Jed’s eyes questions blazed inside of him.  
They could have surgically removed the tumor, he thought. Or maybe they could have given him a pancreas transplant. He started panicking. Sweat poured out of his hair.  
Then the meltdown began. He crumpled into a little ball as he sat in his desk. A soft whimpering sound started to exit out of his mouth.

***  
Jed sat alone in the middle of the hallway during lunch. He was not sure how much of the day he could hold out any longer.  
An airplane floated to his side. He undid the shape to read the text.  
I’m sorry about your friend. Jed cast his eyes downward in Miranda’s direction. He wrote back.  
Self-pity does not help me, he wrote. This was a degradation. Why was she talking like this? She had to be talking in sign language.  
She wrapped her arms around him. Often he would squirm and become irritant when people did this; however, his breathing matched her breathing. Relief fell over him. Jed’s hands wrapped around Miranda’s arms and gently shoved them off. He dared to look into her eyes, and when he did, they were filled with tears.  
Jed was confused. Miranda had barely known Reggie. How she understand what he was going through? Maybe it was what he had trouble understanding: the empathy. She could sense the deep pain. It was something he so often failed to grasp or understand.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jed catches a cold as he is gradually trying to come to terms with his loss; however, even after he begins to recover from this, he decides to keep creating the lego invention even though he no longer knows what it is supposed to be anymore.

For the rest of the day Jed felt pretty terrible. He walked home that day with his arms feeling achy and his entire body feeling like it had drained of energy.  
Opening the door, his mother said nothing to him. She washed the dishes in the sink while Jed went upstairs to his room. He presumed that death probably took its toll on his physical plane of existence as well as his mental, or maybe the bad news of Reggie dying made him lose so much dopamine in the brain.  
That night, Jed had a nightmare of Reggie turning his back on Jed. Jed tried to reach for him, but Reggie kept pulling his shoulder away.  
Another dream involved Reggie appearing out of a bundle of leaves.  
“Do you have the gift that you made for me?” he asked. Jed shook his head.  
Jed woke up with a splitting head ache. It felt like his entire head had been split in two. His two nasal passages were clogged as well.  
“Looks like you have a pretty high fever,” his mother said as she checked his temperature with the thermostat. “I could tell you looked extra groggy yesterday.”  
Indeed Jed felt sleep come across him. While colds had so often drained him of energy, this time he felt even worse than before.  
It’s just a cold. It will go away, he thought, but the more he twisted and turned inside his bed, the more restless he became. He could not bring himself to rest properly in the bed; at the same time, he could do nothing but lay in his bed.  
Man, I don’t remember colds feeling this bad, he thought.  
(Rachel Nieve’s perspective)  
Rachel dyed her hair purple. This time she was going to go for the balls. A lot of things had happened yesterday, and hearing about Reggie’s death made her upset. For some reason, she thought of her act as a way to honor his death. She was not sure why it was that she felt this way.  
I wonder if it looks a little too punk, she thought as she observed herself in the mirror. What if she walked into school the next day and everyone laughed at her for dying her hair purple? No, I am going to assume all of them are free-thinkers…  
Besides there were some students that walked around with dyed hair, she thought. Previous arguments that she had with her parents began to surface to her skull.  
“You know the time when John Lennon was shot to the ground by a crazy person? Well, that could be you!”  
“Mom! That guy was a religious fanatic with mental illness problems! That may not go the same way with me!”  
No offense to mentally ill people, she thought as she turned on the stereo. “Livin’ on a Prayer” began playing. She heard the snare drum give its RA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA,and she started singing.  
***  
(Jed’s perspective)  
Jed fingered the little creation that he had built for Reggie. His hands shook as he thought of the mere fact that he had practically failed to give him the creation when he had the chance. The heart with a little bit of grey in the middle that had staircases running down it with curved Death star chunks at the ends, Reggie would have loved this.  
Jed stared out the window. His tiredness had turned into boredom. The rest of the death star creation was sprawled all over his bedroom floor. How convenient that this cold had to hit me at the same time that Reggie died, he thought as he set himself down to begin building. He could not come up with a good reason that his sadness interfered with his immune system.  
His purpose was no longer present with Reggie gone, but his hands still gravitated towards the pieces, for what else was there for him to do—it was what he loved doing besides hanging with Reggie.  
The circular grey panel swiveled inside his hand. He looked at how its interior was curved upward. From his knowledge of Star Wars lore, he knew this was supposed to be a piece of the Death Star laser cannon at the front. Looking through the pile that was spread out in front of him, he began to assemble the front of the Death Star. Now he had the front of the Death star at the end of one of the sides of his creation.  
I’m genius, he thought.  
***  
A couple days passed. Jed slowly began to recover from his cold. Eventually he was well enough that he was able to go to school. After he had finished packing his book bags, he walked right past his mom, who was eating breakfast. It had been awhile since he had last spoken to her.  
While he was riding the bus, his thoughts raced. I hope Miranda didn’t get into any danger while I was gone; what if Marcus picked on her?  
He raced across the school ground and found Miranda in her usual position. As soon as Jed sat by her, she signed to him.  
Strong She seemed to say by placing her hands on her muscles and pulling the air with her fingers. She then pointed at Jed. It took Jed a moment to realize that she was asking him. The temptation was to look at the book, but the fact that Miranda had the book closed showed that perhaps she thought that it was time to move on from that after all the lessons.  
Fine, he signed; however, this was the only sign that he knew.  
What’s wrong? She asked in sign language. Jed would not speak. He was too tired for sign language; he was too tired trying to interpret every single thing that Miranda was saying, but he knew perfectly well what she was saying from her facial expressions.  
Are you sick? She asked again in sign. Jed shook his head. He took out a piece of paper and wrote.  
It feels kind of weird without him. I feel pretty bad for thinking that because I know I need to get over it. He spoke through his own writing.  
Yeah I know. Nothing wrong with being in the dumps; even I am having trouble learning this language. She wrote back.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jed continues to try to cope with the loss of Reggie Lockhart. Meanwhile, he catches the school bully, Marcus, being beat up by a stronger individual.

Only a couple people recognized said they were sorry about what had happened to Reggie. Of course Jed was not sure if he quite believed them; perhaps all they were just spewing in his face was mere false sympathy. After all, before Reggie’s death they hadn’t really paid much attention to him.  
The sound of crying erupted in the middle of the hallway. Jed didn’t know what to make out of it. At first he thought it was the sound of a child crying out in the distance—like wailing or screaming.   
He thought about the time. It was 11:30, which probab;y meant that lunch time was encroaching. Still he wondered about the real importance of food as curiosity got the better of him. At least it was something that could possibly keep his head off of Reggie.  
He could hear the crying out in the hallways, but which door was it that he needed to get out? Where exactly was the shouting really coming from?  
As he transcended through the rest of the school, he realized the full-frontal reality.   
“Beat him, Craig!” To Jed’s surprise, he saw Marcus Bartholomew on the floor being beaten to a pulp by Craig. There were images of words flooding into Jed’s head.  
Someday he is going to drown in the deep waters he has made, he remembered Miranda saying. He recalled Marcus trying to fight off kids that were bigger than him—and he always thought that Marcus was the bully.  
From a distance Jed could see Ms. Nieve approaching. Better to stay back here, he thought.  
“THAT”S IT! GET OFF HIM! GET OFF HIM!” cried Ms. Nieve. Jed cringed a little with the raising of her voice. She had never heard her like that before. I guess Ms. Nieve was turning over to a new leaf with the dying of her hair—turning into a completely different person.  
Jed could not see the full form of Marcus, considering that as soon as he got up from the ground he sprinted away as fast as he could. Panic rushed through him. For some reason it looked even more intimidating to see that Marcus, his greatest enemy, actually had someone that was stronger than him.  
***  
Jed wrote vigorously inside of his notebook as his math class proceeded. Sure, the numbers and equations that sprang at him were overwhelming, but he couldn’t let something like Reggie’s death hold him back. He had to focus. He had to concentrate.  
“Now if we pull the slope to the left, it makes a negative slope,” she said. Jed’s eyes would constantly switch between his paper and the board. He took a deep breath as if to calm himself. This is going to work out, he thought to himself. This is going to work out.  
“All of you have a test this coming Monday,” the math teacher said.   
“BTW all of you, there is a talent show that is coming up this coming weekend, and I hear that one of the faculty has decided to participate. I’m not sure what act she is going to play, but it must be quite enthralling,” she said.  
Jed walked out of the room without too much of a second thought. He looked to his left.  
***  
(Story of Raphael Noridston; Warriorstruck)  
“Ahhh! Put me down! Put me down!”  
“No!” Molphius cried. Anger was seething through his teeth. He had had it with being rejected in life. No more from now on.  
“No wait!!! AHHH!!!!  
Jed looked at the story on the bulletin board. Gosh, how did these stories even make it onto the bulletin board in the first place? He looked back and forth to check if anyone was looking. Then he did the unthinkable.  
He grabbed the numerous pages on the board and ripped it apart. There was a form of relief that washed over him when this happened. It almost felt like he was freed from the Warriorstruck—like it no longer had control over him.   
He breathed a deep sigh of relief; for once he actually felt very proud that he had had the courage to do that.  
***  
Sitting inside of the silence of his room with the shades down, Jed worked at his creation.  
“Honey,” Jed’s mother said, softly knocking at the door. “Honey, is there anything you would like to talk to me about?”  
Jed said nothing as his mother walked into the room.   
“Honey I know things haven’t been the way that you hoped they would.  
Yeah, yeah, talk, talk, talk, Jed thought. His mother tried to wrap her arms around him. Jed sat still and motionless. However, a small part of his hand started to creep up to his mom’s arm.  
“It really does grieve me to that Reggie had to go,” his mom said; her voice was low and weak. No tears came out of her eyes. Perhaps she was saving them for the funeral, Jed thought.  
When she left, he looked back at the legos and continued building something off of the pieces that were before him. An exhaustion overcame him—a tiredness that he just couldn’t shrug off. He set the creation down and considered destroying it for good.  
Still his hands labored on the project he was about to make. He searched through the pile. He found several pieces that looked like what should have been TIE fighter shafts. He attached them onto the staircase. He sighed.  
This isn’t a legitimate creation anymore, a voice inside of him said. Still, he thought this is what Reggie would have wanted him to do.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jed is called in by the principal to have matters checked with the event of Marcus getting beat up by Craig. Even though Jed is still trying to have his own personal matters fixed with the death of Reggie, he tries to answer the questions as well as possible.

Jed paced back and forth inside of his room. Inside of him he dreaded going back to school. Something inside him just didn’t quite feel right.   
“Honey, unless you are feeling ill again, I would suggest that you get a move on it,” his mother said, knocking on his door. Jed sighed. Perhaps he was a little bit ill from all that had happened, but he was certainly well enough that he could get up and go to school.  
***  
You know, you really are quite a friend, Jed; I never knew that I would ever have someone like you in my life, Miranda wrote to him. They were sitting outside on the lawn in the usual spot of the school  
Sitting here every single school day and struggling to get through stuff like sign language; it really has been quite a blessing—if I can call it that. Jed looked at the two papers at his side. When he didn’t react, she wrote again.  
It’s like we’re invisible to the rest of the crowd. She paused as if something was coming to her mind. Speaking of which, did you hear that Marcus was beat up the other day? This time Jed wrote back.  
Yeah, so I heard.   
No Marcus would be great, but having someone that is even bigger than him—sheesh! And it was here Jed realized the true vulnerability that Miranda faced—the fear she had of being invisible.  
***  
Class was proceeding as usual until a disturbing message called out on the loudspeaker.  
Would Jed Brooks please report to Principal George’s office. Jed Brooks.  
There was some whispering and chatter while Jed left his seat and proceeded out the door.  
“Here is your hall pass, Mr. Brooks,” Mrs. Harris said as Jed made his way out.  
***  
“Come on in, Jed; Principal George is waiting,” Vice Principal Horitz said. Jed walked in to see Principal George.  
“So Ms. Nieve tells me that there was a beat up that resulted in the injury of Markus Bartholomew,” Mr. George said. Jed nodded, not quite looking up.  
“And she also said that you were one of the witnesses of the fight,” George continued, raising his voice a little. Jed’s eyes darkened. How was it that Ms. Nieve knew he was out there watching? Why was it that she reported him without him even knowing? An air of resentment fell on top of him.  
Principal George had the blinds closed in his office. Jed could only wonder why it was that the principal of the school chose to work in such darkness. It added a bit of mystery to him.   
“So Jed, I would like to hear your own account of the story,” the principal said, his tone of voice indicating an air of impersonality.  
“Well, I-I saw Markus on the floor being-um-beat up by a guy that was stronger than him. He was white with curly hair. He wore a baseball hat on his head,” Jed explained as if he was predicting the questions that were about to be asked of him.  
“Oh, I see. Now, did you go off looking off looking for Marcus?”   
“Well, yes, er, no. I just happened to run into him.” In the back of his head, Jed didn’t get it; how was it that Markus never was called out for all the crimes that he had done back then, and now the principal was seemingly siding with him?  
“So Jed, did you see anything else?”  
“No, sir.”  
Principal George sighed before continuing. “Now Jed, could you please point out the day that this happened?” Jed paused.  
“The reason is that there is a possibility that we might be able to have caught the event happening on video.” Jed still didn’t know what to say.  
“I think it might have been April 16—no, probably on the 17th—either on the 16th or 17th,” Jed said.  
“Choose one,” Principal George said. A little turned off by the Principal’s terse demand, Jed began to realize that the principal did not know he needed accommodations. This was the worst part of having asperger’s: trying to make decisions on the spot.  
“If you choose the correct date, then we will have actual evidence for this young man Craig and apprehend him sooner,” Principal George said.  
“I don’t know.”  
“Ok, we will check both dates and see if we can nab this fellow named Craig.” Principal George took off his glasses as he sighed deeply. While the man certainly made up for his height, he was rather thin in his appearance. The crew-cut and grey hair reminded him of Will Ferrell; even his voice rang with that same kind of resonance.  
“I would have preferred if you thought it out more carefully over what happened, but I don’t want to give you a hard time,” Principal George said. As Jed walked out, he was not sure if he really gave adequate advice to the principal. He was probably just being nice, he thought.


	15. Power of a loner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jed finally manages to complete the creation he so desperately longed to make.

Rain pattered down outside of his room. Jed lay on his side again studying his creation. How many times do I have to lie on my side working on this thing? He thought.  
He studied the creation from top to bottom. He thought of all the hard work that he had put into such an object. It was a heart with a grey center that had staircases running down it. At the very end of those staircases were the objects of the death star plates.  
This had been for Reggie. All of it had been for Reggie—except now Reggie was gone. He swerved it around in his fingers, wondering how it was that he had managed to come this far. He felt like there was something that wasn’t quite finished. There were still so many pieces that were lying around him. But no, he thought. All that would ruin the purity of the project; this will always be for Reggie. Always.  
His hands began to pick up the remaining pieces. He didn’t care how many times he had to deal with the same constructions over and over. Just as long as he was able to build something, then he was happy. Though he had no instruction manual inside his hands, his mind worked with vigor; every piece seemed to fall into place like there was no effort at all.  
Soon the ends of the staircases became outfitted with twin blasters. The simple heart that had a little bit of grey in the middle became taller, surrounded by walls and layered with bricks.  
And Jed smiled at the end product that he had made; this was a true masterpiece. This was the true death star that had come into being. This was what he loved about Legos; they were nothing too deep, and he could create just about anything out of them.  
Genius, he thought. As the rain continued to patter down to the ground, Jed found that he had fallen asleep on the floor—his creation inside his hand.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Reggie and Miranda begin departing from his own life, Jed gradually comes to accept a life that is his own.

So my family told me that we are going to move out of here, Miranda wrote to Jed as they sat outside in the front of the school. I’m kind of used to it right now; we’ve moved around a lot because of my father.   
Jed simply paused in the middle of his thoughts. He didn’t write anything back to her.  
It was really nice being your friend. Miranda wrote; Jed nodded with understanding.  
Do you leave tomorrow? He asked. Miranda nodded.  
***  
Jed sat outside in the middle of the hallway preparing for one last lunch with Miranda.   
The two of them sat in utter silence, neither of them saying much to the other. The silence gave a feeling of mutuality between the two.   
You’ll be fine, Miranda wrote.  
Yeah, Jed wrote back.  
Be a man, Miranda wrote.  
Ha ha ha, Jed wrote back.  
Miranda smiled and chuckled almost as if she was afraid to laugh out loud. Still it was something that he had rarely seen out of her in the many months he had known her.  
***  
When Jed finally got home from school, so many thoughts were spinning inside his head. Reggie was gone. Miranda was gone. I guess that leaves just me, Jed thought. He boiled some oatmeal and ate it as a snack. At least there is only a couple more weeks of school left.  
***  
(Story of Raphael Noridston; Warriorstruck)  
Molphius looked up at the sky and marveled at its magnitude.  
Vast, he thought to himself. He considered his options. He could either live the rest of his life as an entity that carried evil with him, or he could fight for the goodness of the people.  
Evil; yes, evil, he thought. I want people to suffer. The light is what caused me to hate. He then ran into a puddle of the ground and saw his own reflection.  
And is that what you want him to become? A monster without any sense of soul?  
“Aw man! That’s where Noridston decided to leave us hanging!”  
“Maybe he just ran out of ideas?”  
“Or maybe he was sick of the dude that ripped his story apart.”  
Jed sped away, a sense of shame beginning to fall down upon him. He walked down the halls. Whoever this Raphael Noridston was, he probably wanted to kill him for ripping his story apart out of his own emotion.  
He did not notice that out of the corner of the hallway, the assistant teacher Ms. Nieve was watching from afar.  
(Rachel Nieve’s perspective)  
Rachel Nieve sat inside of her trailer. The meal table before her had been as empty for as long as she had remembered it throughout her life.  
She could hear the voices taunting her.  
You’ll never reach what you always wanted. Your career is set to fail, her mother said.  
Why do you try so hard on your craft anyway. The mark is far away from you, her music professor had told her.  
It was her professor’s words that stained her the most. I’m not going to shrink back, she declared to herself. Whether I fall or I fail, at least I can pat myself on the back and say that I tried.  
After finishing her pepperoni pizza, she went into her studio and picked up the Bon Jovi record CD.  
“I always seem to be livin’ on a prayer,” she said to herself. “I know that sounds super-cheesy, but it is true.”  
She looked down at the album and nodded her head. It was like this was all that she had hanging onto.  
***  
(Jed’s perspective)  
Jed paused inside of his room. He could not seem to get Ms. Nieve out of his mind. There was a sense of peculiarity that entered into his mind as he reflected on the fact that she was going to be participating in the talent show tomorrow.   
Initially he was not going to go, but perhaps it was something to do that could take his mind off of all the losses he had just experienced.  
Outside he could hear his mother walking around back and forth. He sighed. In a way, his mother was really all that he had left.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jed ends his year with an unknown future ahead of him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing by Bon Jovi

(Jed’s perspective)  
Jed paused inside of his room. He could not seem to get Ms. Nieve out of his mind. There was a sense of peculiarity that entered into his mind as he reflected on the fact that she was going to be participating in the talent show tomorrow.  
Initially he was not going to go, but perhaps it was something to do that could take his mind off of all the losses he had just experienced.  
Outside he could hear his mother walking around back and forth. He sighed. In a way, his mother was really all that he had left.  
***  
“Alright, you can remain here at the show as long as you like and call me when you feel that you are just about ready to be picked up,” Jed’s mom said. It was Monday night. Jed thought about just how far he had really come throughout the year.  
“Ok,” Jed replied as he started to walk inside. Considering the strong contrast it made with the darkness of the outside, the lights of the school illuminated into his eyes. He had to avert them in order to prevent himself from feeling scathed.  
He set himself somewhere in the middle of the auditorium. He prepared himself for whatever that was about to come. Probably nothing is going to really hit me hard, he thought to himself as he relaxed inside his chair. Jed turned his head left and right and began observing everything that was going on around him. Chatter was overwhelming. Several faces looked very familiar,  
“Good afternoon, everyone! Welcome to Dominion Center High’s 15th annual talent show! Let’s get started with our first act!” the announcer said. He had on a black dress suit with a red-colored tie. Enthusiasm burst inside of his being. Sound blasted in Jed’s ear. At that moment, he wanted to walk out of the room.  
Then the curtain opened, and music started to play.  
***  
(Rachel Nieve’s perspective)  
Rachel stood there feeling quite nervous of the performance she was about to play. She had not expected that her part was going to come so soon.  
“I can do this. I can do this,” she said to herself. The curtain opened, and “Livin’ on a Prayer” started playing. She knew there were people out there that were watching her performance. The snare drums struck their notes, and the monkey-singing acappella began playing in the background. For every time that the DJ struck its note, she could feel the intensity of the song rub into her veins.  
Just play your soul out, she could hear a voice inside her head.  
Tommy used to work on the docks.  
Union went on strike. He’s down on his luck. It’s tough. So tough.  
As the part of Tommy went over her mind, she could see the dream of the starving artist inside of her come into being. The loner that could just barely make a meager amount off of the wages that were in front of her. She sang out her heart.  
Gina worked the diner a day, working for her man  
She brings home her pay for love, for love  
Rachel thought of the long lost love that she once believed that she had—but she knew deep down did not exist. She thought of how she had eagerly desired to reach so hard, and yet, it had all added to nothing. She tried yet again to fight against the nothingness. The emptiness that surrounded her.  
This is all you can do, a hollow voice inside her said. She knew this could not possibly be a part of the lyrics she was hearing in the background. This was not a part of the song, yet she shoved all that out and continued singing.  
Or so she thought.  
Woah, we’re halfway there!  
Woah! Livin’ on a prayer!  
Take my hand! We’ll make it I swear!  
Woah! Livin’ on a prayer!  
Who’s hand could she take in a time like this? Though there were so many people out there in front of her, she could not take out the fact that she had lived alone for so long. Finally she was coming back to the light.  
She cried out in the midst of her diaphragm. The song burst forth in the deeper registers of her own inner soul. She did not want anything to happen to the living soul that was inside.  
We’re not gonna stop!  
Woah! We’re halfway there!  
Woah! Livin’ on prayer!  
Take my hand! We’ll make it I swear!  
Woah! Livin on a prayer!  
The song started fading like it was a distant dream for Rachel. A distant dream falling out of her grasps.  
She looked out across the crowd, puzzled over their looks. For several seconds panic started to pump into her. What had se just been doing on this stage the whole time?  
Then somebody started clapping. Soon the entire auditorium erupted in applause. Rachel took a bow.  
“Well, that was quite a dramatic performance for the first act! Thank you for starting that one off for us Rachel!” the announcer stated, he himself clapping his hands.  
Rachel put on a smile. Always smile, she had told herself in the hardest and most brutal of times.  
However, as she hurried off the stage, she remained in the darkness of the background, frightened to show her appearance. While no tears fell out of her eyes, on the inside she cried.  
***  
Jed never knew that the assistant teacher Ms. Nieve carried so much fire to her performance. It was something that he almost found to be completely mesmerizing. None of the other performances stuck with him. He could barely recall any of the others.  
He walked out of the auditorium that day feeling tons of emotions. Perhaps the song had reminded him of a memory that had been so distant that he could not quite recall it.  
“So did you have fun?” his mom asked.  
“Yeah,” Jed said as if he was in a trance.  
***  
(Rachel Nieve’s prespective)  
Stupid, stupid, stupid, Rachel thought. She dunked her head in a bucket of cold water, trying to make the dyed hair wear off. Unfortunately hair dye was always going to be there no matter how hard she tried.  
Rachel sighed. She wanted to think, but no thoughts were coming into her head at the moment. It was like the mind really wanted absolutely nothing but to have peace and quiet. Rachel let out a few panicked breaths.  
She turned on the music on youtube that was titled, “Relaxing and calm piano music 24/7.” It was done. The performance was done. Whether she had performed badly, she could not tell. Who was she really to think that she could actually perform in such a way that could please everyone?  
I guess it is nice to know that I managed to perform, she thought to herself. She sat back in her chair. There was no food in front of her; this time it was nothing more than her and the brain that was being fed.  
The piano played with elegance through her ear plugs. It was enough to calm her angry sensations she had had years before.  
Well, that’s that, she thought. I wonder if there was anyone that actually liked my performance? She walked away from the computer and picked up the Bon Jovi record and set it back inside her studio. I guess Mother was wrong; there really was no shooter to take me out, she thought. Well, singing wasn’t for me after all I suppose…  
***  
The next morning felt different. Jed felt it inside his heart. He rolled around in his bed, wondering what the voice inside of him was telling. Today felt like it was going to be different—much different. He could not comprehend why.  
He sat up inside his bed. He had been doing the same thing over and over and over again, and he quite liked the routine that he had engaged himself in; however, this time he could not get up.  
He looked out the window to see a squirrel digging into the ground.  
“Jed! Wake up!” his mother called. Jed walked out the door of his room. Not in the frustrated way that it usually did; rather, he thought that perhaps his mother really did know the oddities of his life—or at least tried to understand them.  
***  
“Class, I would like to announce that Marcus Bartholomew has returned,” Mrs. Marks said, and into the classroom came Marcus—as bulky and muscled as before.  
But something had changed within Marcus; Jed thought he sensed it. As Marcus took his seat behind Jed, they exchanged but a single glance with one another.  
Jed felt like he wanted to talk to Ms. Nieve, who administered the final exams, but he chose to keep silent.  
***  
Jed placed his things away. He once more exchanged a glance with Marcus.He especially paid attention to the left black eye. Something about the black eye seemed to have changed Marcus. He was not picking on people anymore. Well, it was the end of the year. Perhaps Jed would learn more about it sometime in the future…  
Still, he wondered had there been a real change in Marcus.  
Jed saw Ms. Nieve. He wanted to tell her everything that her song had meant to him; however, he could not get the words going. Therefore, he took out a slip of paper and wrote little note to Ms. Nieve just like how he did with Miranda.  
Thus, Jed breathed deeply as he left behind his school year.


End file.
